Merry makers in this Christmas season who are hoping to travel out of the city are yet to be sent to the deeper end of transport fares and operators and authorities are set to raise the prices tomorrow.
This was revealed by the leadership of both the Uganda Taxie Operators Federation (UTOFE) and the Uganda Bus Operator’s Association (UBOA).
“We are sitting in a meeting tomorrow at 2pm where we shall decide by how much we should increase the fares. This is the knew normal because where there are many people traveling, there are many trips taken meaning we have to cater for all that,” Mr Robert Mutebi, said the Secretary UBOA.
At the current rate, passengers travelling from Kampala City to Gulu City for instance pay the Shs30,000. Those travelling to Kanungu District are being charged Shs45,000, Ibanda District Shs 35,000, Kasese District Shs40,000 and Fort Portal Shs35,000.
This is in comparison to the transport fares in December 2021 where the Uganda Bus Owners Association (UBOA) approved the increment of transport fares between sh5000 to sh10,000 across the whole country.
Transport from Kampala-Mbarara was increased from sh30,000 to sh40,000, Kampala-Ntungamo from sh40,000-sh50,000, Kampala to Migyera from sh30,000 to sh35,000, Kampala-Lira from sh45,000-sh50,000 and Kampala to Mbale from sh30,000 to sh35,000.
Mr Mutebi said the increment in the prices might be by Shs10, 000 or so but was not specific on what will be based to increase the bus fares.
With the rising cost of living that Uganda has faced in the previous months including the hiking of Fuel prices many worry that they may not be able to afford to travel to their respective villages.
However in contrast to these growing fears, transport fares seem to have remained stable for those traveling upcountry for the festive season
This is in contrast to last year 2021 where transport fares shot up at the start of December.
